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Houston-based Avelo Airlines finally has its first Houston flight — but there’s more that needs to happen before local flights can increase, according to its CEO.
The low-cost airline has flown more than 4.6 million customers on more than 36,000 flights since its inaugural flight on April 29, 2021. In the past three years, it has expanded to 52 destinations with more than 77 routes, but it announced its first-ever Houston flight in March. The airline will add nonstop service from Houston's William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) to its base in Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) in Connecticut on Fridays and Mondays beginning June 14. Introductory one-way fares will start at $98
Avelo will be the only airline offering nonstop service between Houston and the state of Connecticut, according to the company.
Three years into building a low-cost carrier at a startup scale, Avelo CEO Andrew Levy highlighted the intentional location strategy behind Avelo's growth, which led to consecutive profitable quarters in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. Despite announcing the Houston flight, Levy said there were some factors that led to the Bayou City not fitting neatly into what the company needs from its airports.
“The challenge we have in Houston is just getting the word out that we're out there, and we exist, and we can get to somewhere that lots of people need to get to,” Levy said.
Levy, who formerly served as an executive with United Airlines and Allegiant Air, said that Avelo chose its base airports due to their accessibility and size to help drive down costs. Houston, which saw a record 60.1 million passengers pass through Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) last year, was already saturated for Avelo’s purposes during its previous expansions.
But the Monday and Friday flights to HVN could lead to more local offerings if interest continues. Levy said HVN also offers an alternative to typical connections to Connecticut through New York City’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
“We tend to really prefer to do things that others aren't doing — Burbank to Houston [for example] is just simply not something that kind of fits the mold,” Levy said. “HVN is where we start; it’s our biggest base, and it’s been very successful for us. We'd love to be able to make these two flights work and to the point where we need to add more service in the New Haven area. We’re pleased with where the bookings are so far, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
Avelo recently filed initial forms with the Department of Transportation for potential service between the U.S. and locations in Mexico and the Caribbean — though Levy said it’s unlikely any of those flights would be from Houston.
“Our focus would be on leisure markets, places that are more of a vacation kind of destination, as well as places where migration data shows there’s a community of interest,” Levy said.
Over the next two months, Avelo will launch 17 new routes, which will include 10 new destinations: Houston's Hobby Airport, Albany International Airport in New York, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Concord-Padgett Regional Airport in North Carolina, Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport in Florida, McGhee Tyson Airport in Tennessee, Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida, Miami International Airport, St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Cherry Capital Airport in Michigan.
In Houston, Avelo's headquarters — which it calls its Support Center — is in Greenway Plaza. Approximately 230 employees are now based out of the Support Center, up from about 100 in January 2022. The Support Center includes the airline’s Operations Control Center, Customer Support Center, and other support functions, including human resources, marketing and communications, e-commerce, digital and IT, finance, pricing, and network planning.
